Neighbor Collin Prochnow went to check on the house after it appeared that the family hadn't been home for weeks, and packages were piling up on their doorstep. He rang the doorbell Saturday afternoon, and all he heard was a dog barking inside the home.

He peeked through the window and said he saw three bodies on the ground with a black handgun next to them.

"Never heard any yelling, never heard any screaming, a husband and wife fight or anything like that," Prochnow said.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office has not yet released the victims' names, but the neighbors identify the family as David Crowley; his wife, Komel Crowley; and their 5-year-old daughter.

Prochnow said he is in shock, recalling a night in December when he awoke to something that sounded like gunshots. But he never thought anything of it until Saturday when he discovered the bodies.

"You have something that happens like that next door and you don't really know when it happened," he said. "And the little girl, why did they have to take the little girl with them when they do things like that?"

David Crowley was a filmmaker, who wrote and directed a recent film about the militarization of the U.S. called Gray State, which has not been released. The film's website states a crowd funding campaign raised more than $60,000 to make the film.

Komel Crowley was a self-employed dietitian whose business was called Mind Body Dietitian. She studied at the University of Minnesota and her LinkedIn page shows she previously specializing in treating eating disorders.

David Crowley used this photo for his LinkedIn profile. (Photo: LinkedIn.com)

Komel Crowley used this photo on her LinkedIn account. (Photo:LinkedIn.com)